The Tallest Building in Every State
Mankind has always sought to rise above the clouds, but it was not until the late 19th century that the technology became available to make what we commonly call skyscrapers today possible.
In 1884, construction on the Home Insurance Building in Chicago was completed. It was 12 stories tall, which is practically diminutive by today’s standards of office buildings, but at the time signalled the start of a new era. An era made possible by the development of a safe elevator and the realization that using steel beams to form a building’s skeleton, rather than relying on walls to support the entire building weight, could allow architects to design much taller structures than previously thought possible.
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The Home Insurance Building no longer stands in Chicago, but it has been replaced by buildings many times its height, including the 1,451-ft., 110-story Willis Tower, which until recently was known as the Sears Tower. While few match the height of Willis Tower, tall office and residential buildings sprang up all over the country throughout the last century and a half. Nearly every state in the country has at least one structure that would have been considered a modern marvel at the turn of the 20th century. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the tallest building in each state.
During the 20th century, new and bigger skyscrapers were built, mostly in the nation’s major metropolitan areas, where vertical development represented a solution to increasingly limited space in densely populated cities. Skyscrapers also provided an opportunity for planners and architects to give their city an identity, and iconic skylines slowly developed in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, and, of course, New York.
In New York in particular, a number of now world-famous skyscrapers have risen over the decades. It was home to the tallest building in the world for most of the 20th century, with one tall structure surpassing the next. The Woolworth Building, the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, and the original World Trade Center each held the world title at various points, before the Sears Tower was completed in 1974. Today, New York is home to about half of the country’s 20 tallest buildings. This includes the 1,396-ft. 432 Park Avenue tower, completed in 2015 and 2014’s 1,776-ft. One World Trade Center, now the third tallest and tallest buildings in the country, respectively.
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The height of a state’s tallest building often reflects the size of its largest city. States with smaller cities often lack the commercial activity that would necessitate a skyscraper. The tallest building in Vermont, for example, is the Masonic Temple Building in Burlington, which is estimated to be just 134 feet tall. In New York City, there are hundreds of buildings that exceed the height of Vermont’s tallest.
To determine the tallest building in every state, 24/7 Wall St. compiled a list with data from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Proposed buildings or buildings under construction, whose height may surpass that of the current tallest building, were excluded from consideration. All building completion dates and heights are CTBUH estimates.
These are the tallest buildings in every state.
1. Alabama
> Tallest building: RSA Battle House Tower
> City: Mobile
> Building height: 745 ft.
> Year built: 2007
2. Alaska
> Tallest building: Conoco-Phillips Building
> City: Anchorage
> Building height: 296 ft.
> Year built: 1983
3. Arizona
> Tallest building: Chase Tower
> City: Phoenix
> Building height: 486 ft.
> Year built: 1972
4. Arkansas
> Tallest building: Simmons Tower
> City: Little Rock
> Building height: 546 ft.
> Year built: 1986
5. California
> Tallest building: Wilshire Grand Center (topped out)
> City: Los Angeles
> Building height: 1,100 ft.
> Year built: 2017
6. Colorado
> Tallest building: Republic Plaza
> City: Denver
> Building height: 714 ft.
> Year built: 1984
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7. Connecticut
> Tallest building: CityPlace I
> City: Hartford
> Building height: 535 ft.
> Year built: 1980
8. Delaware
> Tallest building: River Tower at Christina Landing
> City: Wilmington
> Building height: 340 ft.
> Year built: 2007
9. District of Columbia
> Tallest building: Old Post Office Building
> City: Washington
> Building height: 315 ft.
> Year built: 1899
10. Florida
> Tallest building: Four Seasons Hotel & Tower
> City: Miami
> Building height: 789 ft.
> Year built: 2003
11. Georgia
> Tallest building: Bank of America Plaza
> City: Atlanta
> Building height: 1,023 ft.
> Year built: 1992
12. Hawaii
> Tallest building: The Collection
> City: Honolulu
> Building height: 450 ft.
> Year built: 2016
13. Idaho
> Tallest building: 8th & Main Tower
> City: Boise
> Building height: 315 ft.
> Year built: 2014
14. Illinois
> Tallest building: Willis Tower
> City: Chicago
> Building height: 1,451 ft.
> Year built: 1974
15. Indiana
> Tallest building: Salesforce Tower
> City: Indianapolis
> Building height: 701 ft.
> Year built: 1990
16. Iowa
> Tallest building: 801 Grand
> City: Des Moines
> Building height: 630 ft.
> Year built: 1991
17. Kansas
> Tallest building: Epic Center
> City: Wichita
> Building height: 385 ft.
> Year built: 1989
18. Kentucky
> Tallest building: 400 West Market
> City: Louisville
> Building height: 549 ft.
> Year built: 1993
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19. Louisiana
> Tallest building: One Shell Square
> City: New Orleans
> Building height: 697 ft.
> Year built: 1972
20. Maine
> Tallest building: 477 Congress Street
> City: Portland
> Building height: 00 ft.
> Year built: 1924
21. Maryland
> Tallest building: Transamerica Tower
> City: Baltimore
> Building height: 529 ft.
> Year built: 1973
22. Massachusetts
> Tallest building: 200 Clarendon
> City: Boston
> Building height: 790 ft.
> Year built: 1976
23. Michigan
> Tallest building: Marriott Hotel, Renaissance Center I
> City: Detroit
> Building height: 727 ft.
> Year built: 1977
24. Minnesota
> Tallest building: IDS Center
> City: Minneapolis
> Building height: 910 ft.
> Year built: 1973
25. Mississippi
> Tallest building: Beau Rivage Casino Hotel
> City: Biloxi
> Building height: 346 ft.
> Year built: 1999
26. Missouri
> Tallest building: One Kansas City Place
> City: Kansas City
> Building height: 623 ft.
> Year built: 1988
27. Montana
> Tallest building: First Interstate Center
> City: Billings
> Building height: 272 ft.
> Year built: 1985
28. Nebraska
> Tallest building: First National Bank Tower
> City: Omaha
> Building height: 634 ft.
> Year built: 2002
29. Nevada
> Tallest building: Fontainebleau Resort Hotel (topped out)
> City: Las Vegas
> Building height: 735 ft.
> Year built: N/A
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30. New Hampshire
> Tallest building: City Hall Plaza
> City: Manchester
> Building height: 275 ft.
> Year built: 1992
31. New Jersey
> Tallest building: 30 Hudson Street
> City: Jersey City
> Building height: 781 ft.
> Year built: 2004
32. New Mexico
> Tallest building: Albuquerque Plaza
> City: Albuquerque
> Building height: 351 ft.
> Year built: 1990
33. New York
> Tallest building: One World Trade Center
> City: New York
> Building height: 1,776 ft.
> Year built: 2014
34. North Carolina
> Tallest building: Bank of America Corporate Center
> City: Charlotte
> Building height: 871 ft.
> Year built: 1992
35. North Dakota
> Tallest building: State Capitol
> City: Bismarck
> Building height: 242 ft.
> Year built: 1934
36. Ohio
> Tallest building: Key Tower
> City: Cleveland
> Building height: 947 ft.
> Year built: 1991
37. Oklahoma
> Tallest building: Devon Energy Center
> City: Oklahoma City
> Building height: 844 ft.
> Year built: 2012
38. Oregon
> Tallest building: Wells Fargo Center
> City: Portland
> Building height: 546 ft.
> Year built: 1973
39. Pennsylvania
> Tallest building: Comcast Center
> City: Philadelphia
> Building height: 974 ft.
> Year built: 2008
40. Rhode Island
> Tallest building: 111 Westminster Street
> City: Providence
> Building height: 428 ft.
> Year built: 1927
41. South Carolina
> Tallest building: Capitol Center
> City: Columbia
> Building height: 349 ft.
> Year built: 1987
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42. South Dakota
> Tallest building: CenturyLink Tower
> City: Sioux Falls
> Building height: 174 ft.
> Year built: 1962
43. Tennessee
> Tallest building: AT&T Building
> City: Nashville
> Building height: 617 ft.
> Year built: 1994
44. Texas
> Tallest building: JPMorgan Chase Tower
> City: Houston
> Building height: 1,002 ft.
> Year built: 1982
45. Utah
> Tallest building: Wells Fargo Center
> City: Salt Lake City
> Building height: 422 ft.
> Year built: 1998
46. Vermont
> Tallest building: Masonic Temple Building
> City: Burlington
> Building height: 134 ft.
> Year built: 1898
47. Virginia
> Tallest building: The Westin Virginia Beach Town Center
> City: Virginia Beach
> Building height: 508 ft.
> Year built: 2007
48. Washington
> Tallest building: Columbia Center
> City: Seattle
> Building height: 967 ft.
> Year built: 1985
49. West Virginia
> Tallest building: West Virginia State Capitol
> City: Charleston
> Building height: 292 ft.
> Year built: 1932
50. Wisconsin
> Tallest building: U.S. Bank Center
> City: Milwaukee
> Building height: 601 ft.
> Year built: 1973
51. Wyoming
> Tallest building: Wyoming Financial Center
> City: Cheyenne
> Building height: 148 ft.
> Year built: 1990
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